The Top 2 Qualities Every Project Manager Must Have
As progressive Project Managers, we are constantly staying up to 
date on industry trends to align our values with key stakeholders.
A report on 50 years of PM research published in the International Journal of Project Management acknowledges core PM methodologies that have stood the test of time.
By analyzing thousands of documents, the research team sourced traits that were repeated frequently to describe a project manager’s activities.
The study had some groundbreaking information: Project Management has made a definite shift from an exclusively engineering orientation, to a field that covers a broader organizational perspective.
The team at EPS couldn’t agree more. Regardless of a project’s scope or its industry of execution, there are key methodologies that play a role in any and every project.
Below are the top 2 traits every project manager should have:
1. Excellent Communication Skills
Since each client’s project is unique, each will require a diverse range of skill sets. Therefore, the EPS team is comprised of people whose career paths differ greatly. However, all of our project managers are united by one key skill; they are all exceptional communicators. In our opinion to be a good project manager he or she should be an expert of knowing their audience aside from the obvious communication skills; writing, listening, and verbal communication
What does “knowing your audience” mean?
The best communicators are capable of adjusting their communication style to suit the needs of the audience. For example, engineers who are considered excellent communicators can explain a complex process to their colleagues and peers just as easily as they can to an ordinary audience where the members may not have sufficient knowledge or experience about engineering concepts or principles.
2. Flexibility
Depending on the client, each Project Manager’s role will be different. While certain project stakeholders like to delegate tasks, others would prefer if you took a lead in the entire project. Project Managers need to be ready for these kinds of organizational shifts. By following certain tested and true methodologies Project Managers can better manage their flexible roles.
The scope of a project determines the kind of methodology or approach the project management team will take. To ensure budget and schedule goes according to plan, a project manager must create a work breakdown structure according to the complexity and need of the project. For a large, critical project, the Critical Path Method can be used; this speaks to dependencies, milestones and deliverables. It outlines critical and non-critical activities by calculating the “longest” and “shortest” time to complete tasks to determine which activities are critical and which are not.
At EPS, the importance of critical and non-critical activities should be continually reassessed at various stages of project process – not just in the initial planning stage. That way EPS project managers can offer effective change management procedures when necessary to deliver the best results. Below is a chart outlining the general organization of each stage of PM delivery. In this methodology, notice the importance of revisiting and revising Planning and Design programs when necessary.
For every project component, there are multiple methodologies to choose from that can help project managers to be successful. Knowing when to use each methodology is a sign of a strong project manager that is also flexible.
Over the course of a PM’s career, they may be asked to perform on vastly different kinds of projects – even within their industry of expertise. At EPS, our main focus is on the needs of people we are working with. To be successful in a project no matter how large small or lengthy, expert communication and flexibility are paramount. Check out our work with Tim Horton’s on how we execute here.
FOLLOW US to see more tips on Project Management:
